Why Globe and Mail hired an editor for a niche business product

Like many media companies, The Globe and Mail has diversified its revenue streams. We have a strong foundation to build on, particularly in our business offerings, which include our award-winning journalism and suites of tools designed to help investors manage and track their portfolios.

We’ve also been relentless in pursuing niche business markets. Professional financial advisors are responsible for the majority of mutual fund and ETF (exchange-traded fund) sales in Canada, and, as such, are an ideal audience for our popular Globe Advisor product. Globe Advisor offers news, insight, and trends analyses targeted specifically to this audience, as well as ProStation, a powerful tool that helps to create model portfolios and investment proposals for clients. We relaunched an upgraded version of Globe Advisor in February 2019.

When it launched its Globe Advisor product, The Globe and Mail decided an editor should lead the charge.

Before we relaunched the product, we faced a decision. Would Globe Advisor be managed by an editorial lead? After all, an editor isn’t necessarily essential for the day-to-day management of business products. Our Globe Investor suite, another of our business products, runs quite happily pulling in up-to-date information from a variety of sources without daily editorial input.

However, we wanted Globe Advisor to be different. We wanted a hub product that would be the first stop for the financial advisor community, a place where they could find the latest information that matters to them at the same time they accessed ProStation (which many do multiple times a day).

Our new editor, Pablo Fuchs, brought his journalistic flair to the role. Having a Globe Advisor editor is important for us to show our competitive edge and demonstrate our commitment to the financial advisor community. Here are only a few of the benefits of having an editor lead a niche business product.

Vision and focus: What will the section look like? What will we focus on?

Having an editor to provide a vision for Globe Advisor means it has room to develop and grow. As well, an editor serves as a consistent point of contact for news tips, questions, and building relationships. For Globe Advisor, which is supported through a mix of digital ad sales, sponsorship, and native advertising, having someone to offer the personal touch is key.

Editorial consistency: As editor, Fuchs not only ensures the content in Globe Advisor meets our exacting standards, he is responsible for integrating relevant content from other Globe verticals and overseeing what’s highlighted in our daily Globe Advisor newsletters.

This is necessary for maintaining our reputation. Given the unique nature of the advisor market, our customers must receive the same quality of content and insight we create for the rest of the Globe. Without editorial expertise and direction, this task is difficult to achieve with a traditional freelance-oriented model.

Content expertise: We knew we needed an industry veteran who understood the core issues facing our Globe Advisor subscribers and what they needed to succeed. This was even more important given our hard registration wall around Globe Advisor. Under Fuchs’ leadership, Globe Advisor will offer daily news with expanded in-depth industry coverage, expert analysis, and practical content on topics important to the advisor community.

Although the Globe could have continued without an editorial lead for Globe Advisor, we believe an editor will make the product stronger and more relevant, and it will increase its visibility among financial advisors in Canada.

About Garth Thomas

Garth Thomas is managing director of business and financial products at The Globe and Mail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at @gartht1.